June 2018

June 29, 2018

Canada Day is Sunday: the 151th anniversary of the agreement of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia to form the Dominion of Canada. This is also why older people might refer to Canada Day as Dominion Day.

This will be a long weekend for Canadians with most places taking Monday off to acknowledge the holiday.

For those who thought marijuana would be legal on Canada Day 2018, there was never an official announcement. The date is October 17. Canada Day 2019, just not Canada Day 2018.

So how should you celebrate Canada Day 2018? Here are a few suggestions and thoughts:

The Canadian tariffs in retaliation for the steel and aluminum tariffs by the United States will kick in on Sunday. Canada has been dealing with tariffs on softwood lumber and the Bombardier tariffs before the newest tariffs. Donald Trump is threatening to blow up the auto industry on both sides of the border. Maybe you should consider buying an automobile while you have the chance.

If you are planning to sell your used car, you might want to hang on to your car a bit longer. Used car prices should significantly go up if people can't afford new cars.

Americans should stock up on Canadian maple syrup and other Canadian products that will get more expensive starting on Sunday.

If you're in Canada and are considering travel to the United States, you might consider that you could get caught up in a traffic stop with border patrol officers searching for foreigners. That includes Canadians.

We've heard reports on stops along Interstate 93 in Woodstock, New Hampshire and Interstate 95 in Maine. This is one of the many crackdowns we've seen as the rules are interpreted to mean Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers can addresses anyone within 100 miles (160 km) of the U.S. border. The border mark is also defined as an ocean and, in a bizarre interpretation, the Great Lakes.

The checkpoints are clearly a violation of the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Given the current power structure, the Constitution isn't seen as a deterrent.

As we are reminded by the case in Georgia, Canadians should travel with their documents while driving in the United States. Understand your rights is helpful and don't be intimidated by the officers.

If you think you can avoid them by driving, CBP officers have also been boarding buses.

Jogging along the border won't be as severe for Americans and Canadians as what happened to Cedella Roman, the French woman who was visiting her mother in White Rock, BC. Roman inadvertently went over the border during her job and spent 2 weeks at a U.S. detention centre. This is also a reminder that when jogging or even walking, you should have your travel documents.

Outside of Quebec, Manitoba, and Nunavut, Canadians could take the time to figure out how viably they can grow up to 4 marijuana plants when marijuana becomes legal on October 17. Your province might be open in terms of numbers of outlets (sorry, Ontario) but growing the product at home makes a lot more sense. Your hydro bill will go up significantly.

Quebec thinks of July 1 as Moving Day. Newfoundland and Labrador celebrate Memorial Day on July 1. The province was dealing with snow this week at the end of June. Other Canadians are dealing with temperatures higher than 30°C (86°F).

You don't have to celebrate Canada Day with poutine. Really. Not a requirement. Ketchup chips and all-dressed chips are a great way to add Canada to the plate. Learn how to make a tourtière, or meat pie. Enjoy Beaver Tails in Canada and certain U.S. markets. Drink a Canadian beer. Canada has more than just Labatt's. Molson, and Moosehead.

June 28, 2018

ESPN2 does its part for the Canada Day long weekend with a Friday Night Football doubleheader. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers serve as Hamilton's home opener opponent. In the late game, the BC Lions are in Edmonton.

The festivities start Thursday with Ottawa traveling to Calgary. The key to that game is whether they will pull off one of their ties or will one of the teams actually win. The Alouettes look for their first win when they go back out west to visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Toronto gets to relax on Canada Day weekend.

ESPN2

FridayWinnipeg @ Hamilton, 7pBC @ Edmonton, 10p

TSN

Bye week: Toronto

Toronto brought back Ricky Ray but also made sure the Argos were set with Jeremiah Franklin. Ray's horrible neck injury means the veteran quarterback "will miss significant time this season." Doctors told him he shouldn't play again this season. Here is hoping for a full recovery. Franklin may share playing time with McLeod Bethel-Thompson. Both quarterbacks will have extra prep time given that Toronto has a bye this week.

The Argos had 2 tough games to start the season. If Franklin gets the start next week, that will come against his old team.

---

Ray's former teammate Zach Collaros has been placed on the 6-game injured list. Brandon Bridge aka Air Canada will get the start for Saskatchewan this week.

---

In 9 of the past 13 seasons, Hamilton has started 0-2. 2018 will not be one of those seasons. The Tiger-Cats pulled off a strong road win in Edmonton, a difficult place to pull off a win. We didn't expect them to start 0-8 again, but a good start for Hamilton would be an improvement.

Speaking of the Steel City, if you are attending the Hamilton home opener, you might want to spend some extra time at the refurbished Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Museum in the club level at Tim Hortons Field. The Hall of Fame had been in Hamilton in the downtown area near City Hall. Moving the location should increase interest among even casual CFL fans.

The Touchdown Statue has been relocated to Gate 3 on Melrose Avenue.

---

Duron Carter played the whole game at cornerback for Saskatchewan. Carter got a Pick 6 off of Trevor Harris. Carter has 2 interceptions and both returned for a touchdown. Carter also got burned on a TD by Diontae Spencer in Ottawa.

Carter will remain at cornerback for the Roughriders.

---

Beautiful Saturday night. Replica Grey Cup rings for the fans. Grey Cup rematch with Calgary in town: 16,450 in attendance. The Toronto Argonauts have closed off the upper deck on the north side of the stadium, so that 16,450 mark is close to a sellout. The Argos came off of a Grey Cup championship and drew 16,450. The Montréal Alouettes haven't won in almost a year and drew 19,498 for their home opener.

There are a lot of entertainment options in Canada's largest city. The sports fans tend to do better with a league where the Toronto team plays U.S. teams. Given that a lot of people in Toronto have come from other parts of Canada, you would think they could draw simply from fans of other cities.

---

Hamilton announced late in camp that the team would trade quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., likely either to Edmonton or Montréal. Well, Adams never got traded but the Tiger-Cats did release the quarterback.

Hamilton got Charleston Hughes in the offseason as Calgary pulled off a salary dump. The Tiger-Cats quickly traded Hughes to Saskatchewan straight up for Adams.

At the time, Johnny Manziel hadn't signed with Hamilton. But now, Hamilton traded a rather good pass rusher and have nothing to show for the trade.

Montréal signed Adams on Wednesday night. The Alouettes need a lot of help on offence; a scrambling quarterback won't solve all their troubles, but Adams will help.

We got our first true Thursday Night Football experience. Kate Beirness was with the panel. Rod Smith was in the booth with Duane Forde in Ottawa. Brodie Lawson hung out with fans in Ottawa. All of them did just fine. The U.S. audience got to hear the music at halftime.

As for ESPN+, the service was so far so good. Felt like ESPN3. Used the ESPN app on my phone and tablet to pull up ESPN+. Hate the idea of paying for what I got for free. If you only pay for the service for the CFL season, the cost might run $25. The NHL games might make me keep the service but that feels a long way away.

June 27, 2018

Anthony Bourdain and Parts Unknown isn't the only Sunday night show on CNN that features a Canada-centric episode. W. Kamau Bell and his United Shades of America show took a look at Canada on Sunday night.

For those unfamiliar with the show, Bell travels to places and talks to the local people about what makes their area unique and distinct.

Bell only traveled to Toronto and Montréal. We see quite a few conversations inside St. Lawrence Market in Toronto.

Bell is a comedian by trade, so Bell actually started the episode in Los Angeles with his friend and fellow comedian Russell Peters in a Toronto vs. Everybody T-shirt. Bell noted there are several famous Canadians in front of the cameras in Hollywood. We saw Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Seth Rogen, [not sure who this was], Dan Aykroyd, Will Arnett, Caroline Rhea, Martin Short, Ellen Page, Leslie Nielsen, and Samantha Bee.

Here are the other major segments in the episode:

Mark Nykanen is a former NBC correspondent in the 1980s. Nykanen and his wife left for Canada in 2003. The couple came back to the U.S. in 2015 and then back to Canada in 2017. Bell said Nykanen is writing a book about moving to Canada.

Bell goes curling with the Royal Canadian Curling Club in Toronto. Bell fell a few times on the ice.

He explores safe injection sites in Toronto and mentions ones in Vancouver. This leads into a discussion about Canadian health care with Dr. Danielle Martin. You might recall Dr. Martin spent time in the United States with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) educating Americans about Canadian health care. Canadians know this but Martin shared with the U.S. audience that prescription drugs are included when you are admitted to the hospital, but not as an outpatient.

Bell talks about how Canada has treated the indigenous population with Melina Laboucan Massimo. The audience learns about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the inquiry into the disappearance of missing indigenous women and girls. Massimo told the story of her sister who died under mysterious circumstances.

He learns about Canada's role in the Underground Railroad as well as the history of slavery in what was Canada before the British colony became a dominion. Slavery remained legal in Canada until August 1, 1834 as Britain got rid of slavery with the Slavery Abolition Act. Bell noted that about 30,000 black people escaped to Canada in southwestern Ontario from 1834-1860.

In Montréal, Bell tries poutine. Then he talks with Cori Carl, an American who was able to make the move, who co-wrote a book on Moving to Canada. Carl toured Bell through her app on how successful you might be in moving to Canada. Bell didn't score well. You can take the test for yourself.

I knew the high prices were due to Canada's supply management policy, which limits production and ensures good prices for farmers. Funny how Doug Ford campaigned in Ontario on lowering prices for average people on gas taxes and beer, but never mentioned dairy, eggs, and poultry.

Conservative MP Maxime Bernier ran for his party's leadership race on getting rid of supply management. Bernier narrowly lost to Andrew Scheer; Bernier got removed from the shadow cabinet after his views resurfaced on his Web site. Even among conservatives, Bernier is in the minority.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue went out of his way to say Canada's supply management system wasn't the issue. "The United States is not about trying to get Canada to ditch its supply management system." Donald Trump's tweets scream otherwise.

The supply management system, like softwood lumber, was never a part of the NAFTA deal.

Let's be clear that American farmers are also subsidized, a fact you rarely hear in U.S. media coverage of the Canadian supply management system.

For the Trans Pacific Partnership, Canada did allow for more imports on dairy, but only 3.3%. The United States pulled out of the Trans Pacific Partnership.

While the supply management system has felt like a third rail in Canadian politics, we have had discussions about the policy itself and whether that policy is still relevant.

The supply management system keeps smaller Canadian farms in business. Contrast this to Wisconsin, a state that lost 500 dairy farms in 2017. Another 150 have quit milking cows so far in 2018. The overall numbers of milk-cow farms rests at around 7,600 — down 20% in the last 5 years.

The Canadian system is designed for internal consumption, so Canadian exports aren't a significant number.

The American subsidies help consumers more than farmers; the Canadian subsidies help farmers more than consumers. The surprise is the Canadian approach isn't supply management or subsidies, but that they make average Canadians pay. No wonder Canadians cross the border for cheaper American milk.

One drawback to the supply management system in living in Canada is the difficulty in finding European-style butter in Canada. According to this article, Canada allows a limited supply of European butter that is usually grabbed up by bakers. That is good news for consumers buying Canadian baked goods but not good news if you want to use the richer butters at home.

The Canada CETA trade pact with the European Union is currently held up by Italy with its own food issues. Hopefully, that deal will involve more European butter for Canada.

There are definitely drawbacks to Canada's supply management on dairy, eggs, and poultry. The U.S. system has a lot of flaws, as the folks at our sister blog BalanceofFood.com know all too well.

Canada did negotiate slivers of trade in the TPP and likely will in CETA. The fact that supply management has been outside NAFTA speaks to the difficulty with negotiating these trade concerns. The U.S. has an advantage in that its media will only cover outrageous figures from its government instead of comprehensive trade policy. Canada has an advantage in that there is no way they can compromise on supply management, no matter its flaws. Standing up to the bully isn't easy but way better than capitulating because the bully will then come back for more.

June 25, 2018

The criticism of See the North and Canada Now is that the impression of viable U.S. markets for Canadian film is mostly limited to New York City and Los Angeles and a bit toward New Orleans.

We wanted to show an example of a collection of Canadian films that was shown this spring in Chicago at the University of Chicago Doc Films series.

Beyond Hollywood North: Contemporary Canadian Voices And Visions was the theme for the presentation of Canadian films. The timeline went from 1990-2012. The series of films was programmed by Francesca Lambert. Here was the schedule of films that were shown in the Monday series.

Looking back at the last time (2015) that the Toronto International Film festival ranked the Top 10 Canadian films of all time, this Canadian film series has the #1 film (Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner); #3 film (The Sweet Hereafter); #9 film (My Winnipeg); and a film tied for #10 (Stories We Tell).

Picture of Light was a film that I saw in Windsor last fall. The film has been remastered and is being shown for free to all audiences. Polytechnique is a film that Americans should see for multiple reasons from gun control to Denis Villeneuve to a pair of actresses that Americans and English Canadians are learning more about in Karine Vanasse and Évelyne Brochu.

Laurence Anyways is an adventurous film that was then a bit ahead of its time, a film that Americans might embrace now. I was less familiar with Archangel and Rude.

This was the wording from the Doc Films series that introduced the significance of the series:

In 2017, The Toronto International Film Festival and its partners celebrated the country's sesquicentennial by screening a roster of 150 "essential moving-image productions" from Canadian film history. This series draws from that list but focuses more narrowly on works dating back to the 1990s, the decade in which Canadian film first made major inroads at international festivals and achieved financial and critical success at home and abroad. This was, and continues to be, no small feat as the American industry, juggernaut of commercial culture, dominates Canadian theaters (even considered part of the domestic market!) and draws away aspiring and established actors, directors, and film professionals. In response, this series serves as an introduction to a vibrant, heterogeneous, and all-too-often overshadowed contemporary national cinema, specifically bringing together films that foreground and illustrate distinct and diverse Canadian cultural identities, languages, geographies, and lives. These include works little-known and rarely-screened, as well as more recent and larger-budget productions by directors who have since gone on themselves to answer Hollywood's seductive call. The series takes us from the cosmopolitan urban hubs of Toronto and Montreal to small rural communities and the wild expanses of the Canadian Arctic; from (fictional and documentary, narrative and experimental) explorations of personal memories and experiences, to those of communal histories, events, and legends; from childhood to adulthood and back again, each film's universal aspects sited in uniquely Canadian contexts.

A beautiful analysis of why Canadian film is relevant to U.S. audiences.

Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle are just some of the major U.S. cities that would warmly embrace a festival of Canadian films. As Windsor, Ontario has taught up, a festival doesn't have to be just for major cities, but they are a good place to start.

June 22, 2018

Royal assent for legal marijuana in Canada has arrived. Circle October 17 on your calendars for the start of legal recreational marijuana. All of that is wonderful news, but what does that mean for Canadians and tourists once every day in Canada will be 420 Day.

Age

Every province and territory — except Manitoba — will have the same age for legal consumption of alcohol as for marijuana. Quebec and Alberta have 18 as the minimum age while the other provinces and territories have 19 as the minimum age. Manitoba has a 18-year-old drinking age but the age will be 19 for marijuana. This is a distinction for those 19- and 20-year-olds in Washington state who may be legal in British Columbia but not yet in Washington state.

The Trudeau Government emphasized the consequences of passing along marijuana to those under the legal age. The government is very serious about those penalties.

Amendments

The amendment that had the most publicity is that home cultivation of marijuana plants is limited to 4 plants. Quebec, Manitoba, and Nunavut want to forbid home cultivation. If Quebec is allowed to pass this exception, the prime minister would not be allowed to grow plants in his Montréal home (Trudeau’s riding is Papineau in Montréal), but Trudeau could grow them in his Ottawa home.

Other Senate amendments that didn’t make it through included a public registry of investors in cannabis companies as well as a ban of branded swag by pot companies.

Customs and border crossings

Crossing into Canada for the purpose of consuming marijuana may run you into trouble with Canadian authorities. Come to Canada for a variety of reasons: maple syrup, Tim Hortons, Go Leafs Go, etc. Have an expressed purpose for visiting Canada. Tell them you read CanadianCrossing.com and wanted to see how awesome Canada can be.

Canadians crossing into the United States and Americans crossing back from Canada have other issues. There is a strong likelihood that U.S. customs officers will be extra diligent especially in the beginning of legalization. Be smart when dealing with officers. Again, bring up the wonderful times you had on your visit to Canada.

Canadians entering the United States may experience extra scrutiny at border crossings. Yes, even more than usual, especially in the beginning of legalization.

Medical marijuana

We haven’t heard much about those on medical marijuana and the impact of legalization on them. Ontario is talking about 40 outlets province-wide to sell legal marijuana. There might be at least 40 outlets in Toronto alone to get medical marijuana.

Cost and access are considerable factors for some medical marijuana patients. The U.S. states that went through this have had their own transitions. Things may go smoothly enough for most medical marijuana patients but they might have some extra anxiety, which might require more medical marijuana.

Price

We've been hearing that marijuana will be priced at about $10 per gram, except in the Yukon where that might fall to $8. The federal marijuana tax is $1/gram, or 10% of sales of more than $10. The federal government gets 25% while provinces and municipalities get the rest. This does not factor in HST.

Tourists

Do your homework on specific provinces as to their rules. The legislation is geared ideally toward home owners. Renters may not be able to light up in their apartments. Public consumption, especially through smoking, will also be an issue.

If you are coming to Canada and expecting edibles, you will have to wait a year after legalization. Bill C-45 built the 1-year ban on edibles to ensure the marketplace is ready and that edibles don’t fall into the hands of children.

The limit to carrying around marijuana is 30 grams. An ounce is 28 grams. Learn how much that means in terms of marijuana so that you can stay on the proper side of the law.

Governor General Julie Payette gives royal assent to several bills, including Bill C-45.

History

Canada did have Bill C-10 to deal with marijuana in 2004. That bill would have removed the threat of jail for those possessing fewer than 15 grams, but still would have a $100-$500 fine.

The Paul Martin Government let the bill die before the election campaign that eventually elected Stephen Harper. The Conservatives have been against legalizing marijuana and never brought up their own bill.

Be a smart consumer

The social experiment that is legalized marijuana in Canada will be under a world microscope. Chances are you didn't know that Uruguay was the other country to legalize recreational marijuana.

The ideal is that marijuana becomes more practical for those who need it and those who want it, while limiting the evils to the society at large. Marijuana use in reasonably limited forms will work out well for the majority of the population.

Some people can not handle marijuana at any age. As a society, Canada needs to help those who will have trouble ingesting marijuana. Indigenous populations are concerned about the current state of addiction among their people and worry that marijuana can make bad situations even worse.

All the rallies have delivered the result you want: legal recreational marijuana from sea to sea to sea.

With that power comes responsibility. We are not trying to harsh your buzz. All we are saying is be a smart, responsible marijuana consumer, if you choose to go that route. As for marijuana tourists, follow the laws of the province/territory and federal laws. Come to Canada to enjoy Canada.

The better that Canada takes to this new power will speak volumes for how cool Canada is and set an example for the world as other countries look into either decriminalization or legalization.

ESPN2 is down to a single game, the early game on Friday Night Football with the Blue Bombers in La Belle Province.

The CFL has games in the East this week after last week's opening week in the West. The Saskatchewan Roughriders are in the nation's capital for Thursday Night Football as the RedBlacks start their season. The Tiger-Cats continue on the road in Edmonton in the late game on Friday.

Toronto's home opener features the rematch of the 2017 Grey Cup with the Stampeders in town.

The BC Lions enjoy some nice weather back home in Vancouver for the week.

ESPN2

TSN

Bye week: BC

"The earliest that the CFL season has ever begun becomes the latest that a game ever ends." — Rod Black

A good CFL game ran up against Mother Nature with 2 lightning delays in Winnipeg Thursday night. The delay time was more time (2:55) than Toronto-Saskatchewan used Friday night. The previous record for delay time was 2:29 on August 3, 2016, also in Winnipeg. The 2016 contest was delayed at the start.

The Reklaws were originally supposed to play at halftime, then shifted to play during the warmups for Winnipeg 2.0, then finally their appearance was cancelled.

Chris Streveler became the first QB straight out of college to start a CFL opener since Anthony Calvillo in 1994 with the Las Vegas Posse. Calvillo and Joe Theismann in 1971 with Toronto are still the only 2 in that category to win that first game.

The studio crew was in Winnipeg. They had a lot more time to fill. Some of that content was references to the Rum Hut on the concourse in Winnipeg. The Rum Hut was closed well before the 2nd delay.

---

Zach Collaros snapped a 12-game losing streak as a starter, one short of the league record held by Lynn Amedee with 13 in 1963-1964. Anthony Calvillo (1996-1997) is one of several QBs with a 12-game streak.

Collaros last victory as a starter came on September 9, 2016 for Hamilton vs. Montréal.

---

Calgary had a slow start, especially in the red zone. Hamilton made a game of it for most of the contest, a far cry from the 60-1 dominance the Stampeders put on the Tiger-Cats in Calgary last August. Hamilton could only muster a field goal in the second half. If the Tiger-Cats don't win this week, the team will have gone 0-2 in 10 of its last 14 seasons.

---

Montréal lost its 12th straight over the last 2 seasons. The Alouettes had a good 1st quarter; now they need to solve the other 3 quarters. The BC Lions proved they are good enough to beat Montréal at home.

The Ottawa RedBlacks are resting comfortably in first place in the East with a 0-0 record.

The new TSN innovation is a split screen where the replay is on the left while the live play is on the right. We've seen U.S. outlets use this to run ads but nice to see a football use for the technology.

---

For our American readers, this will likely mark the start of ESPN+ if you feel like the money is justified. We will report back on our impressions. Feel free to leave a comment about your ESPN+ experience, good and bad.

The United States financially benefits from a flood of Canadians who cross the border to buy gas, spend money on groceries, and yes, buy shoes. The country wants Canada to raise the duties from $200 in a same-day trip perhaps closer to the $800 figure that Americans can bring back from Canada on a same-day trip.

Pirate Joe's, for those who don't remember, was Mike Hallatt who bought a lot of Trader Joe's food and sold it on 4th Street in Vancouver. Hallatt didn't even have to "scuff the shoes" to get the Trader Joe's food across the border.

Trump identified duties as tariffs and as "massive," even though the U.S. benefits from the policy. Canadians spend money in the United States on local businesses and locations of national businesses, and Trump thinks that is bad. Some Canadians may have cut back on those trips thanks to the hostility in the United States, but that isn't what is angering him.

"We can no longer be the stupid country; we want to be the smart country." Donald Trump really said this. Understanding the difference between tariffs and duties and knowing when money is spent in a country: these would be smart traits.

Most Canadians aren't in a practical position to take advantage of cross-border shopping. Figure the Maritimes, short of western New Brunswick, have no U.S. contact. Southern Canadians from the Cascades to Thunder Bay, Ontario have no major shopping areas outside of perhaps Fargo and Spokane. Those in southwestern British Columbia, southern Ontario and Quebec make up the majority of cross-border shoppers.

Those shoppers deal with a 20% currency disadvantage versus the U.S. dollar, lost time, and dealing with customs (with or without scuffed shoes) all to buy U.S. products on U.S. soil. This makes the Trump temper tantrum all the more confusing. Those Canadians deserve a thank you for making significant financial contributions to the American economy.

The beauty of Pirate Joe's was that people in Vancouver could buy desired U.S. products without having to leave Canada. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court ruling bringing the case back to the district court. The problem stemmed from not being able to afford to fight the appeals.

Americans should appreciate that Canadians do as much shopping as they do in the United States as they do. They might learn a bit more over this aspect of Canadians thanks to this story. Someone besides me on the U.S. side needs to understand this as part of the Canada-U.S. relationship. The tariffs, trade battles, and difficult NAFTA negotiations are detracting away from a normally natural welcoming relationship between these two countries.

June 19, 2018

We shouldn't be surprised that Canada Now has sneaked back into New Orleans. Admittedly, the films aren't crammed into a long weekend but are spread out through the long summer that southern Louisiana presents. New Orleans also hosted Canada Now films in 2016.

The Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center in New Orleans hosts Canada Now through July 26.

All but Cross My Heart (Les Rois mongols) have been featured on earlier Canada Now tours. This film is a coming-of-age story set in the height of the FLQ in 1970 about a girl who hatches a plot to live with her brothers and cousins sans parents.

Usually in a Canadian film list, I've seen a few or even more. Sadly, the only film on this list I have seen is Black Cop. Seeing Hochelaga, Land of Souls would extend my streak of seeing the nominees for Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards back to 2003.